``Can I just copy my notes or the textbook for an essay and add an introduction and conclusion?''

Essays can often take considerable time to write, and Jane was looking for a way to save time and improve her efficiency.

I asked Jane why she thought this was possible. Jane replied that the textbook or your notes essentially included all the relevant information. All that would be needed to make the content into an essay was to add an introduction and conclusion.

Unfortunately, essay writing is much more than just simply adding an introduction and conclusion.

The key difference between A and B grade essays lies not in the content that the essays identify, but largely in how that content is used and adapted to the particular question.

Most students who apply themselves can memorise the relevant content and regurgitate it in exam conditions.

The key lies in taking this content and adapting it to create a fluid and persuasive argument that directly responds to the question.

Simply adding an introduction and conclusion do not adequately achieve this. While and introduction and a conclusion will be tailored to the particular question, the content, purely derived from notes often will not specifically answer the question. In fact it may not even directly answer your thesis.

It is very easy to see an essay which had been largely written by copying out the textbook or a set of notes. While it does cover all the basic information, it lacks depth and importantly analysis.

So, what can you do to make essay writing for effective and efficient?

Firstly, do not write an essay by copying the textbook or your notes word for word.

This does not mean however that you cannot use your notes.

A great way to make essay writing more efficient is to structure your notes in a way that answer a potential question. So, for example, structure your English notes based on theme, and then identify the relevant texts, examples, techniques and quotes.

This way, when you use your notes as a guide, the information is already structured in a way that is easy to use for essay writing. This will dramatically improve essay writing time and can be used for any essay writing subject!